Thatta: Al least 13 people have been fished out from the sea while around two dozen were missing when a boat overloaded with devotees of a local shrine capsized in a creek in Thatta district on Thursday.
The boat, ferrying the devotees to shrine of Meenhan Pathai in the sea in union council Bohara, was carrying over hundred people, the survivors, local fishermen and boatmen claimed.
According to initial media reports, bodies of two women, two children and a man were brought to Sheikh Zayed Sakro Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. It stated the boat was overloaded with insufficient safety measures, with the strong winds feared to have played a role in the accident.
Commissioner Hyderabad Division Dr Saeed Magnejo said that ongoing local rescue efforts are being supported by coordination between Navy and Army units in the area.
He added that ambulances from Thatta and Sujawal districts had been mobilised to participate in the rescue efforts. The recovered bodies have been moved to the Mirpur Sakro Taluqa Hospital.
The area commissioner, however, said that two boats had collided in a creek 30 kilometres away from Boharo village, whereas the Deputy Inspector General Hyderabad Jawed Alam Odho said one boat had capsized, without offering further details.